Franken Weighs In With DOJ on Comcast-TWC

Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) on Wednesday sent a letter to the Department of Justice’s antitrust division, urging it to take net neutrality into consideration as it evaluates the proposed Comcast-Time Warner Cable merger.  Noting that “[n]et neutrality protects consumers by prohibiting broadband service providers…from picking and choosing which lawful Internet content will reach homes and offices across the country,” Sen. Franken endorsed principles of net neutrality and settlement-free peering arrangements as conditions of the deal going forward.

Sen. Franken further noted that while Comcast has repeatedly mentioned its ongoing net neutrality obligations required by the Federal Communications Commission as part of its acquisition of NBCUniversal, those obligations expire in 2018, “which raises the question of what happens after that time.”

The full text of the letter may be found here.

Previously, Sen. Franken quite vocally opposed AT&T’s proposed acquisition of wireless carrier T-Mobile.

Also calling for strong net neutrality rules and settlement-free peering arrangements in the past 48 hours is Reed Hastings, CEO of Netflix, who in a blog post yesterday acknowledged that the company is paying Comcast “a toll” to ensure that Netflix customers with Comcast as their ISP continue to receive a high-quality broadcast of its streaming video service.

posted by Anant Raut

TN Legislature to Debate Definition of “Tennessee Whiskey”

The Wall Street Journal reports today that the Tennessee state legislature will debate today the definition of “Tennessee Whiskey.”  Last year, the state passed legislation requiring anything labeled “Tennessee whiskey” to be made in the state of Tennessee, made from at least 51% corn, filtered through maple charcoal, and aged in new, charred oak barrels.  As it stands, the law benefits Jack Daniel’s (which actively lobbied for the legislation last year), in that it mirrors the formula used by Jack Daniel’s.  Jack Daniel’s sells nearly 90% of “Tennessee whiskey.”

Diageo PLC, owned of (distant) number two Tennessee whiskey brand George Dickel, is lobbying for a relaxing of some of the rules, citing a desire to experiment with the formulation of its whiskey, as well as the difficulty in obtaining new oak barrels.  Jack Daniel’s owns its own cooperage, and plans to build a second one in Alabama.

posted by Anant Raut

This Week in Congress

Both the Senate and the House of Representatives are out of session this week.

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New NJ Regs Seem Designed to Protect Auto Dealers, Block Tesla

The Wall Street Journal reports that New Jersey has passed regulations that appear designed to force electric car manufacturer Tesla into abandoning its direct sales approach and partnering with licensed auto dealers.  The new regulations passed today forbid renewal of licenses to sell motor vehicles without showing a franchise agreement between manufacturer and independent dealer – which, as WSJ points out, “[Tesla], as both manufacturer and dealer, can’t do.”

In addition, the new regulations impose requirements on automotive showrooms that appear to have less to do with consumer protection than targeting Tesla’s favored approach of locating in malls and commercial strips, requiring premises larger than 1,000 sq. ft., vehicle servicing facilities, and at least two cars on display.

posted by Anant Raut

This Week in Congress

There are no antitrust- or privacy-related hearings in Congress this week.

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FCC Eyeing State Laws Restricting Broadband Competition

The Charlotte Observer reports that Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler has stated that the FCC will be reviewing and possibly overruling state laws designed to protect incumbent broadband providers from competing services offered by municipalities.

The article details how the city of Wilson, N.C., created a low-cost, high-speed municipal fiber network that forced incumbent ISPs Time Warner and CenturyLink to lower their prices and offer higher speeds for consumers.  In response to that and similar initiatives in four other municipalities, the ISPs lobbied the N.C. legislature to pass a law in 2011 to prevent more municipalities from challenging their oligopolistic behavior.

This blog has previously reported legislation in Utah that would similarly restrict competition from a municipally-owned and -operated fiber network.

posted by Anant Raut

This Week in Congress

The federal government is closed today, Monday March 3rd, due to inclement weather in the Washington, D.C. region, and there are no antitrust- or privacy-related hearings in Congress this week.

posted by Anant Raut

Senate Judiciary Announces Wireless Competition Hearing

With Sprint making overtures to a merger with T-Mobile, the Senate antitrust subcommittee will be holding a hearing next Wednesday entitled “An Examination of Competition in the Wireless Market.”  The witness list features:

• Eric Graham, SVP of Strategic Relations, Cellular South
• Randal Milch, EVP and GC, Verizon
• Jonathan Spalter, Chairman, Mobile Future
• Thomas Sugrue, SVP of Govt Affairs, T-Mobile USA
• Matthew Wood, Policy Director, Free Press

Additional details may be found here.

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FCC Fires Warning Shot at State Broadband Restrictions

Two weeks ago on this blog, we discussed pending legislation in Utah that would prohibit broadband competition from a fiber network developed by a coalition of local municipalities.  Today, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler asserted the FCC’s authority to review and possibly overturn such competition-restricting legislation, citing Judge Silberman’s dissenting opinion in last month’s D.C. Circuit decision in Verizon.  

ArsTechnica has full coverage here.

posted by Anant Raut

Feb. 20 Panel: “Congress’ Antitrust Agenda in 2014”

This Thursday, February 20th, at noon, the Legislative Committee will be hosting a teleconference to discuss Congress’ antitrust agenda for the coming year.  Our featured panelists will be:

• Caroline Holland, General Counsel and Staff Director, Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights, U.S. Senate
• Bryson Bachman, Chief Minority Counsel, Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights, U.S. Senate
• Anthony Grossi, Counsel, Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial and Antitrust Law, U.S. House of Representatives
• James Park, Chief Minority Counsel, Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial and Antitrust Law, U.S. House of Representatives

Full details of the program may be found here.  Listeners will have a chance to interact with our panelists via telephone as well as over Twitter (@anantitrust).

posted by Anant Raut